Food receptacles

ABSTRACT

The nature of the invention described herein is a training dish that will aid in maintaining food on a utensil and stop food from sliding off of the dish. The training dish comprises a feature that allows the dish to be stacked one on top of the other for the purposes of micro waving two or more entrees at one time, transporting the training dish with and/or without containing food, and for storage. Said feature also provides a mechanical disadvantage toward the tendency to tip when a utensil applies a force against the upper training wall.

[0001] This application is based on provisional application Serial No. 60/______ filed Sep. 15, 2000

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to a food receptacle or feeding dish created to aid children learning to use utensils and persons with loss of dexterity such as the elderly, paraplegics or the autistic. Generally such inventions exhibit some sort of upper wall to stop food from sliding off the dish and/or catch food that may fall off of the utensil. The construction is usually simple with an effort to minimize the number of parts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Patents for the feeding dish usually focus on the shape of the upper wall. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,278 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,212 both feature a wall that rises upward and inward toward the center of the dish. U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,525 features a wall that first extends outward and then curls inward so that the cross section is similar to a question mark. There are several drawbacks with these inventions.

[0004] The first has to do with the ability to easily microwave two or more servings at one time. There is no feature present to positively hold one dish in place on top of the other. This would also be beneficial for stacking dishes for storage between meals.

[0005] A second drawback with prior efforts is that there are sections of the upper wall that extend outward of the point of contact with a table or supporting surface. This is not ideal or optimal when trying to reduce the tendency for a dish to tip. A utensil applying force to the upper wall at a point outside of the point of contact with the supporting surface has a greater mechanical advantage to tip the dish than if the point of the applied force were inside the point of contact of the support surface.

[0006] A third drawback refers to the manufacturing process used to produce said dishes. If these are to be produced via plastic molding, an undercut is present in all three patents. An undercut requires the use of cams in order to separate the mold once the material has been injected. Otherwise the part would be trapped inside one or more portions of the mold. Cams complicate the design and manufacture of the mold itself, reduce the life of the mold and require additional cycle time prior to removing each part. All of these deficiencies increase time and costs involved in bringing these inventions to market.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Primarily, it is the object of this invention to provide a training dish for children, the elderly, paraplegic or autistic persons as an aid in self-feeding. The invention features an upper wall to keep food on a utensil and stop food from sliding off of the dish and onto a table or support surface.

[0008] Another object of the invention is to provide a means for stacking the dishes on top of each other in positive alignment, allowing for the micro waving of two or more entrees at a time. The dishes are held in place and not allowed to slide off of each other. This stacking feature is also beneficial for storage purposes.

[0009] Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanical stability which resists the tendency for the dish to tip. This is achieved by insuring that every potential point of contact and applied force for a utensil is within the point of contact between the dish and a table or other support surface.

[0010] Another object of the invention is to utilize a simple one-piece construction for ease of manufacturing and controlling costs. It is intended to be produced via a plastic molding process. The simplest designs require only a straight pull of the two mold halves. There are no undercuts that would require the use of cams in the mold. Cams adversely affect time, cost and complexity of a mold. When mass-producing plastic parts, cams increase the cycle time required to manufacture each part which affects piece part cost. Cams are moving parts within the mold, which reduces the useful life of the mold.

[0011] Another object of the invention is to provide a training dish which has a training wall high enough to maintain food on a utensil yet low enough overall, to still fit between the racks of a standard household dishwasher.

[0012] The above objects are achieved by a food receptacle comprising a base and a continuous wall integral with and extending substantially perpendicularly from an upper face of said base to an upper edge to form a food receiving recess. The continuous wall has a cross-sectional thickness which is never greater than the thickness at the intersection of the wall with the base, the outer perimeter of the upper edge of the continuous wall forming a defined configuration. A recess is formed in a lower face of the base, the recess having inwardly facing edge portions arranged in the defined configuration for abutting a substantial portion of the outer perimeter of the upper edge of an adjacent stacked food receptacle, whereby a plurality of food receptacles may be stacked.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a training dish constructed in accordance with the present invention.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the training dish of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2.

[0015]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of three training dishes stacked on top of each other.

[0016]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a training dish with an alternate configuration embodying the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 the flat bottom 10 of a training dish formed in accordance with this invention.

[0019] Referring now to FIG. 2, there is a substantially continuous training wall 11 extending vertically upward or perpendicularly from and formed integrally with the upper surface 10 a of the flat bottom 10 to form a food receiving recess 11 a. The training wall 11 will aid in maintaining food in the food receiving recess and prevent the food from being swept onto the table or other supporting surface.

[0020] According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, there is a lower rim 12 that extends outward of the training wall 11 to create a mechanical support which resists the tendency of the dish to tip. The point of contact where a utensil or hand can apply a force to the training wall 11, is always inside of the point of contact between the lower rim 12 and the table or some other support surface.

[0021] According to another preferred embodiment of this invention, the lower rim also extends vertically downward to form a recess 10 b in the lower face of the base 10 to provide a positive stacking feature. The inside diameter of the lower rim 12 extends outward and slightly beyond the outside diameter of the training wall 11. The lower rim 12 on the top dish will capture the training wall 11 of the bottom dish and hold the top dish from sliding off of the bottom dish. Referring now to FIG. 3, this preferred embodiment is beneficial when micro waving two or more entrees at one time, for transporting two or more dishes with and/or without containing food, and for storage purposes.

[0022] Yet another preferred embodiment is a simple one-piece construction designed for plastic molding processes that will not required a camming action within the mold design. There are no undercuts present within the preferred embodiment of the dish that would cause the dish to be trapped within one or both halves of a plastic mold. The cross-sectional configuration of the wall 11 has a thickness that is never greater than the thickness fo the intersection of the wall 11 with the base 10. A straightforward straight pull from both haves of the mold is all that is required and is as simple as plastic molding can be. Cams tend to complicate mold design, increase mold costs, introduce more moving parts within the mold that reduces the life of the mold and increase the chances of damaging the mold, and increase the cycle time required to produce a dish during the molding process.

[0023] In addition, a notch 20 in the rim 12 and/or notch 22 in the wall 11 or other means may be employed to provide a passage from the food receiving recess 11 a to the exterior when the dishes are stacked to provide control over the temperature of food during micro waving.

[0024]FIG. 4 shows an alternative configuration where the wall 24, attached to a base 26. It should be apparent the many different configurations may be employed. FIG. 5 shows a training dish 28 having multiple compartments 30, 32, and 34, formed by wall sections 36 and 38 interconnecting one another and an outer wall 40. The wall sections 36 and 38 preferably have the same cross sectional configuration as the wall 40.

[0025] Still another preferred embodiment is that the overall height of the training wall 11 be high enough to aid in maintaining food on a utensil, yet low enough for the dish to fit between the racks of a standard, household dishwasher. 

Having thus described the invention. What is novel and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:
 1. A food receptacle comprising: a base a continuous wall integral with and extending substantially perpendicularly from an upper face of said base to an upper edge thereby forming a food receiving recess, said continuous wall having a cross-sectional thickness which is never greater than the thickness at the intersection of said wall with said base, the outer perimeter of the upper edge of said continuous wall forming a defined configuration, and means for forming a recess in a lower face of said base, said recess having inwardly facing edge portions arranged in said defined configuration for abutting a substantial portion of the outer perimeter of the upper edge of an adjacent stacked food receptacle, whereby a plurality of food receptacles may be stacked.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional configuration of said continuous is a straight sided taper.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said food receptacle is injection molded whereby no cams are necessary in the molding process.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said defined configuration of the continuous wall is circular.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said defined configuration of said continuous wall is non-circular.
 6. Apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said defined configuration of said continuous wall is oval.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least one interconnecting wall integral with and extending substantially perpendicularly from said upper face of said base and intersecting spaced points on said continuous wall to form a compartment.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said interconnecting wall has the same cross-sectional configuration as said continuous wall.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means for venting said food receiving recess when a plurality of said food receptacles are stacked whereby the heat build-up of food in said food receiving recess is controlled.
 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said venting means comprises at least one interruption in the upper edge of said continuous wall such that a passage to the exterior is formed when a plurality of food receiving receptacles are stacked. 